"Liebe ist die halbe Miete", which is really difficult to translate because it is a play on words in the German language, is a German movie from 2002, so this one is almost 20 years old already now. But let me assure you that it is not a particularly good or creative title. It is one that the easily influenced will appreciate I am sure and think it is smart or funny, but it is not. So it fits in with the quality from the rest of the movie (or lack there), which on the other hand makes the title really accurate again because it tells you to stay away from watching this one at any cost. And if the title won't keep you away, then I hope my review can. This movie is just as bad as 80% (maybe more) of the movies that are shown on German television in the afternoon these days. Reruns obviously. But it doesn't matter if it is a premiere or a rerun, it still stays a really bad movie. The director is Gabi Kubach, who apparently is retired for over a decade now, and she starter her career in a solid manner apparently in the 1970s already and stayed like that, but everything she made after the 80s seems to be of really low quality and this film here is not an exception. Same is true for writer Plogstedt with the exception that he did not even come up with quality projects at any point in his career. And he is also retired for a really long time already now. Good for both of them and good for us as well that they are not making any new movies. This one here is a mess. This is especially disappointing because the late Götz George is really an actor I almost always like, but the script and the performances by other actors (one in particular, I will get to that soon) make it impossible for him the carry this film on his own. His approach is as always really physical and you cannot say he isn't trying to make it work. But you can't turn water into wine and honestly this statement is an insult to water if we look at this movie in particular. The name George probably attracted a cast here that is above-average for a television film: Girnth, Stumph, Manzel, Trowe and Troegner are actors that most German film buffs certainly have across on one occasion or the other.
But the one I mentioned earlier, who also plays the female lead in here is Thekla Carola Wied. And she is unbearably bad. Not only does she manage to make this weak screenplay look even worse, but she manages the almost impossible to make it much worse because she really does not manage to hit the right the notes on a single occasion. Always over the top and I feel bad for audience members who perceive her character as an admirable self-confident powerful female character. It's probably mostly females around her age (back then) who would think so, but judging from this film I felt as if Wied has zero range and versatility and people cannot be so blind and not see it. What is up with the rating here on imdb. Anyway, just a few examples. The scene when Wied's character holds a speech to a mostly male audience was really tough to take. What was even worse was her relationship with this young guy and how he was absolutely crazy for her, while she (obviously as the desirable female she is) was playing hard to get. And there is another young male swirling around her later on too as if we did not get the (cringeworthy) message the first time. And the first guy? Oh well, there were indicators he could perhaps get together with George's character's daughter while they are having dinner at a restaurant. Of course, the love for the older woman was just a glimpse apparently. Only in the movies. German afternoon television movies that is. The daughter is played by the really young Stephanie Stumph by the way. Anyway, back to Wied's character. And sadly also to George's. There is the inevitable "happy" ending in which the two reunite at the radio station where she is working and he finally realized that he is in love with her. Oh well. That also, with everything before that, felt already difficult to accept, also how it came all out of nowhere, but the exact depiction was really the worst. How he calls her, of course gets through to talk with her (she is the host), and she does not recognize his voice (why were they acting as if he changes his voice or as if there was something with the transmission, he didn't, there wasn't). So we do not wonder why she does not recognize the man's voice immediately? Or do you want us to believe that she did and played along and this was great character writing with depth? Absolutely not. It gets worse when he has reached the station and appears right behind her and kisses her the very moment the show is over and of course, all the technicians working at the studio are really cheering for him/her/them etc. Completely aside from the fact that he could have been with Arzu Bazman's character. Which 100% would have been the realistic approach, no matter how many cheap shots they took in only one scene to make her look as bad as possible. Talk about complete absence of talent in character writing when it comes to defining shades. Only to manipulate the audience in the dumbest way possible. If films could actually make you physically sick, then this would be a definite contender. I love George and hope he rests in peace now, but I have no idea why he accepted the role here. He certainly didn't need to do it given his fame and wealth and popularity. There is no talent involved here and I give these almost 1.5 hours a massive thumbs-down. I knew Wied wasn't a great actress, but I had no idea she was that bad honestly. How can people even cast her for lead roles? Oh yeah, I wish I could finish the review on a positive note, but there is just no way with this movie, so another reference about a scene that sucked and with this I am referring to the elevator scene from early on, in which they are both talking on their phone at the same time. Yep mobile phones were already a thing at the beginning of the new millennium. So this was another scene, in which Wied took a poorly written plot to an even lower level quality-wise. Effortlessly she did so. If she was at the other end of the scale, she'd be insanely talented. Shame she isn't. For the audience especially. Don't become one of them. Skip the watch. Bad enough that this is shown still on television after all these years.
0 out of 1 found this helpful